If the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) confirms the conclusions made in Germany, Sweden and France, then the European Union will definitely impose sanctions against Russia in the case of blogger Alexei Navalny. This was announced on Saturday, October 3, by German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas in an interview with t-online.
“If the result of the German, Swedish and French laboratories is confirmed, there will be a clear answer from the EU. I am sure of this, ”the diplomat said, without specifying what kind of response Russia was waiting for.
He also expressed confidence that “there will be no escape from the sanctions.”
On September 30, Meuse from the UN rostrum called on the Russian authorities to more actively investigate the alleged poisoning of Navalny. He also stressed that the European Union reserves the right to impose sanctions on Russia, and thanked other countries for their support.
Navalny felt unwell during the flight from Tomsk to Moscow on August 20. The plane urgently landed in Omsk, the blogger was taken to the emergency hospital No. 1, and later transported to the Charite clinic in Berlin.
In Germany, it was reported that a Russian was found to have signs of intoxication with a substance from the group of cholinesterase inhibitors. Omsk doctors during the examination of the patient did not reveal intoxication with this substance. On September 23, Navalny was discharged from the hospital.
The German government, relying on data from a special laboratory of the Bundeswehr, announced that Navalny was allegedly poisoned with a substance from the Novichok group. However, no evidence or facts was attached to this statement. Official requests from the Russian side, including the Prosecutor General’s Office and doctors, remained unanswered.
Moscow considers such statements by Berlin to be just another information campaign against Russia, noting that the accusations are not supported by facts.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on September 24 that the OPCW, to which, according to Berlin, the blogger’s test results were transferred, “fooled their heads,” claiming that they had not received any materials on this case. Later it turned out that representatives of the organization p